1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to manufacturing and, in particular, to manufacturing composite structures. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a system and method for manufacturing composite structures for aircraft.
2. Background
Aircraft are being designed and manufactured with greater and greater percentages of composite materials. Composite materials may be used in aircraft to decrease the weight of the aircraft. This decreased weight improves performance features such as payload capacities and fuel efficiencies. Further, composite materials provide longer service life for various components in an aircraft.
Composite materials are strong, light-weight materials created by combining two or more functional components. For example, a composite material may include reinforcing fibers bound in a polymer resin matrix. The fibers may be unidirectional or may take the form of a woven cloth or fabric. The fibers and resins are arranged and cured to form a composite material.
In manufacturing composite structures, layers of composite material are typically placed on a tool. The layers of composite material may be comprised of fibers in sheets. These sheets may take the form of fabrics, tape, tows, or other suitable forms. In some cases, resin may be infused or pre-impregnated into the sheets. These sheets are referred to as prepreg.
The different layers of composite material are placed in different configurations and different numbers of layers may be used depending on the thickness of the composite structure being manufactured. These layers of composite material may be laid up by hand or placed on the tool using automated equipment such as a tape laminating machine or a fiber placement device.
In some cases, the size, shape, or both size and shape of the composite structure being manufactured makes placing composite material on the tool more difficult than desired. For instance, in the case of manufacturing structural members for aircraft, the structural members may be longer than the equipment used to place the composite material for the structural member.
As an example, some structural members are over one hundred feet in length. In this case, the structural member may be manufactured in sections and joined together. The process for manufacturing this type of structure may be more complex and time-consuming than desired. The process also may involve rotating the structure such that fiber placement devices have access to the surfaces of the structure. Therefore, it would be desirable to have a method and apparatus that take into account at least some of the issues discussed above, as well as possibly other issues.